On Saturday, Cuba issued an unprecedented public report on the status of an imprisoned dissident.
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández began his hunger strike in February, the day after the first Cuban hunger striker death in almost forty years. He is now
near death.
[more inside]
posted by hat
on Jul 6, 2010 -
21 comments
Many poor Haitians, driven over the edge by world rising food prices, are now
eating cakes of mud, salt and shortening in order to survive.
This article in the September issue of National Geographic describes how, thanks to history and other factors such as hurricanes, Haiti has lost its ability to feed itself; more than 90% of the country is deforested. The picture caption in the print version, not seen online, uses the word "clay" instead of "dirt". Bill Quigley wrote about
the U.S. role in Haiti's food riots, which claimed six lives last spring.
posted by Melismata
on Oct 10, 2008 -
33 comments
In 1943, while the Allies were busy battling the Axis Powers and the Nazi Regime, there was
another kind of war that was being waged against a helpless populace (living on the Indian Sub-continent). A
war that has been largely ignored by the mass media and the history books of our time. It is known as the
Great Bengal Famine, and ended up causing the
death of an estimated
1.5 million to 4 million people.
posted by hadjiboy
on Aug 30, 2008 -
34 comments
The new face of hunger -- “World agriculture has entered a new, unsustainable and politically risky period” says the International Food Policy Research Institute. Food riots have erupted in countries all along the equator because of soaring food commodity prices. So, where does the world get more food? If the extra supplies are to come mainly from large farmers in America and Europe, then they may be
trapped in a farm subsidy Catch-22. Increase production per acre? We just learned about the myth of GM crops (
previously of MeFi). All of this is why some are just
sitting out Earth Day.
posted by netbros
on Apr 22, 2008 -
114 comments
What Am I Craving? That's the question we always ask ourselves when thinking about what to eat. So we got to thinking: wouldn't it be cool to have a tool that could listen to what we were craving and then suggest something good to cook?
posted by amyms
on Jan 25, 2008 -
28 comments
Tonight, G.W. Bush is expected to announce a major energy proposal, including
cutbacks in gas consumption and development of alternative fuels. High on the list is the development and subsidisation of
ethanol, primarily as derived from corn. The utility of corn-based ethanol in meeting energy needs is debatable: its probably weakly
energy positive, but not very good in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. More immediately, the US drive towards corn based ethanol has had major effects on the price of corn, and has caused the otherwise free market leaning Mexican President Felipe Calderon to introduce price controls on
tortillas. Earth Policy Institute's
Lester Brown: "
The competition for grain between the world’s 800 million motorists who want to maintain their mobility and its 2 billion poorest people who are simply trying to survive is emerging as an epic issue.". (This post based on a column by
Barrie McKenna, unfortunately subscriber only.)
posted by bumpkin
on Jan 23, 2007 -
119 comments
John Murtari hunger strike protest. John Murtari has been on a hunger strike after being jailed without a jury trail. A PHD in aeronautics, Murtari lost his job and took a lower paying job at an ISP. Unable to pay the extremely high child support payment, he asked the courts to re-adjust his payment. The court denied him. The judge offered him probation or 6 months jail time. Murtari chose jail time with protest. Murtari stated
Even Terrorists get a trail by jury. He is finally on a feeding tube, forced down his nose, after loosing 28 lbs.
Update with protest photos and his
comments on the protest.
posted by IronWolve
on Aug 12, 2006 -
60 comments
Are you HUNGRY or do you just crave the
flavor?
(my favorite is that Mustard is under the heading Exotic.)
posted by Phantast
on Aug 17, 2005 -
29 comments
What did Pavlov’s dog think about Pavlov?
"Look at the poor man, every time I am hungry, instead of bringing me food, he rings the bell!"
Some people just
figure it out, but here on MeFi we
already knew it.
posted by MzB
on Aug 21, 2003 -
9 comments
"Clinton was a good guy, but he did fuck all" or so says Bob Geldof when it comes to Clinton getting aid to Africa. And he's just as critical about the EU as well (
"The EU have been pathetic and appalling, and I thought we had dealt with that 20 years ago when the electorate of our countries said never again...") pointing out their tiny contribution to the recent aid shipments to Ethiopia. But what about the Bush government you ask?
"You'll think I'm off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush administration is the most radical -- in a positive sense -- in its approach to Africa since Kennedy."
posted by PenDevil
on May 28, 2003 -
19 comments
Fast for George W. Bush. "If you are willing to fast at least one day a month primarily for George W. Bush's holiness (and other areas, such as bipartisan work among the Democrats and Republicans, Wisdom in his work, wisdom for his cabinet, healing for our nation, etc. ... but primarily holiness) then we encourage you to sign up and join us [...] Our goal is to have 1,000 people fasting for the President each day. That will greatly encourage him and keep him accountable when the Evil One seeks to sidetrack him from his commitment to the Lord. "
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Feb 24, 2003 -
92 comments
Hunger rates highest in rural West. "Unemployment and prevalence of seasonal labor go hand-in-hand with hunger, experts say.
Oregon,
Washington and
Alaska rank high in both jobless and hunger rates. Across the West, the agriculture industry relies on seasonal labor to harvest everything from mushrooms to apples. Families that work in the summer often can't make ends meet in the winter."
posted by crasspastor
on Dec 3, 2002 -
6 comments
Did you know that two to three million people (1 in 10) have
died from starvation in North Korea since 1995? I didn't. Is branding them a part of the "Axis of Evil" making it worse?
posted by queequeg
on Aug 6, 2002 -
31 comments
Food summit 'waste of time' and a shame for many first world countries. Berlusconi and Spain’s prime minister Aznar were the only leaders of wealthy countries present during the summit. And Silvio Berlusconi made the summit end two hours early in order to watch his country's crucial World Cup game with México. I wish the War Against Hunger woukd receive the same attention than the War Against Terror…
posted by samelborp
on Jun 13, 2002 -
7 comments
World's indifference to the Afghan tragedy If you read my article in full, It will take about an hour of your time. In this hour, 14 more people will have died in Afghanistan of war and hunger and 60 others will have become refugees in other countries.
A few months old, but well worth a read in current context ...
posted by walrus
on Sep 18, 2001 -
12 comments
